AN iconic racehorse owned by a late Crystal Palace superfan has died at the ‘remarkable’ age of 32.
Selhurstpark Flyer was a fan-favourite sprinter in the Nineties, famed for becoming the first horse in more than 60 years to win the same race back-to-back at Royal Ascot.
Selhurstpark Flyer, left, shown here beating Danetime in the Wokingham, has died at the age of 32
Owned by Chris and Antonia Deuters, Selhurstpark Flyer, named after the South London club’s ground, won the Wokingham twice from 1997.
Victory in the summer showpiece was worth £100,000 in all – and contributed to roughly half the £203,954 the sprinter made on the racecourse.
Selhurstpark Flyer, who was trained by Jack Berry, ran his final race in July 2000 and lived a happy life in retirement.
The horse had also been ridden by legends Willie Carson, Lester Piggott and Pat Eddery.
Chris was a huge Palace fan and the couple were made lifelong presidents of the club.
He was a City worker who grafted his way up from Thomas Cook cashier to a senior role at Lehman Brothers
Chris traded his high-flying job in for a role in racing – but sadly died in 2008 after a long illness.
His wife Antonia, who was by Chris’ side when the horse also won on Derby day at Epsom, told the Racing Post: “We actually had a theory that he only made the effort when he saw top hats and tailcoats.
“He loved Epsom and he used to spearhead the field.
“He could stand in the stalls forever and a day but would then always take lengths out of the rest of the field leaving the stalls.”
Selhurstpark Flyer’s most famous day arguably came when he won the Wokingham the first time.
Sent off 25-1, Selhurstpark Flyer beat 7-1 fav Danetime – the subject of a massive late gamble from renowned owner Michael Tabor.
Antonia said: “He wasn’t fancied and we were obviously absolutely thrilled when he won.
“The next day all the coverage was about Danetime, Michael Tabor and Gary Stevens. It was like we weren’t there.
“I was so thrilled for my husband when he won the second time [the following year] because they finally both got the credit.”
Selhurstpark Flyer was put to sleep on Monday morning after living the final years of his life with Antonia’s friend Heather Chapman.
A horse can normally be expected to live to between the age of 25 and 30, so he had an exceptionally long life.
Antonia added: “Heather absolutely adored him and I was being quite stoic – but then she set me off crying.”
